then do it with hats
medals should not be given away all the time, but be reserved for their real purpose. most of the medals fit to achievements in the game.
but:
the german veterans that went to stalingrad had fought in the west iand in africa(or was that just the movie?) that should be a free medal that cant be used anywhere else. the betatesters are the only ones with game experience on release so that feels right.
I'm not shure about the russians. could be that they should get some uniform parts from before the war or maybe the komsomol badge
http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.88451614.jpg the badges would show that the beat testers are the fanatical ones. that is probably right too.
however, i doubt anyone at tripwire is available to work on a project like this at the moment. but lets hope for something.